{"id":78042,"date":"2022-05-06T09:15:33","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T14:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=78042"},"modified":"2022-06-03T12:50:01","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T17:50:01","slug":"sheila-the-genderfuck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2022\/05\/06\/sheila-the-genderfuck\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheila the Genderfuck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fabian Rosales | @fabianrosalesmedia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I had to fit in a box, I would be a drag king; but the point is that I don\u2019t, and I don\u2019t want to choose.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheila the Genderfuck (he\/they) is an amateur, Brown drag performer based in Lawrence. Sheila is performed by a KU student.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This student, who identifies as non-binary, has used their drag persona to help them better understand their gender.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve only recently realized that I kind of want to lean more into like my masculine side,\u201d they said. \u201cI think drag really helps me do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They still like to incorporate feminine elements in their drag too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhenever I wear [feminine] Indian clothing as well as also being masculine, it just feels like I\u2019m kind of… like just like me,\u201d they shared.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sheila the Genderfuck was first inspired to do drag by a peer in OSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). In June of last year, Sheila made his first appearance at Jazz House\u2019s open drag night where he was supported by his screaming friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was just really sweet,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cIt was also very liberating because I just like busted my tits out at the end of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of drag, they are a part of KU\u2019s Bollywood fusion dance team, Jeeva. They incorporate that style of dance in their performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drag community has been rapidly growing, but representation of the community lacks diversity in gender and in race, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of my qualms from the [local] drag scene come with it being so white and binary,\u201d they said. \u201cI wish there were more spaces for performers who are neither drag kings nor drag queens, like me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jazzhaus is a nightclub located on Massachusetts Street and it is the only venue in town to regularly host drag events. It is also one of the few spaces for the queer community in Lawrence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although, according to Sheila, the space is only safe for the white community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen some of the hosts wearing dreads,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a performer have a blue lives matter bag backstage, while Jazzhaus says \u2018Black Lives Matter’ before every event. All of these are basic, basic things that should not be done and add harm to a queer environment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheila performed at the Kansas Drag Showcase this past weekend and hopes to take their drag to Kansas City. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the future, I want to incorporate more smooth moves into my dancing,\u201d said Sheila. \u201cI have definitely looked into male stripper moves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheila also finds inspiration from local and global BIPOC drag performers. They recommend seeing Chay D. Boots,<\/a> Jello Tin Shot,<\/a> and Victor Shawn Von Du.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find Sheila the Genderfuck on Instagram<\/a>. Make sure to keep an eye out for any of his future performances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fabian Rosales | @fabianrosalesmedia \u201cIf I had to fit in a box, I would be a drag king; but the point is that I don\u2019t, and I don\u2019t want to choose.\u201d  Sheila the Genderfuck (he\/they) is an amateur, Brown drag performer based in Lawrence. Sheila is performed by a KU student.\u00a0\u00a0 This student, who identifies as non-binary, has used their drag persona to help them better understand their gender.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI’ve only recently realized that I kind of want to lean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":78043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3226,15],"tags":[8735,8733,2130,8734],"class_list":["post-78042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-culture-articles","category-featured-on-kjhk","tag-bollywood","tag-drag","tag-lgbtq","tag-ostem"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/IMG_6310.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78122,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78042\/revisions\/78122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}